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Slowly,
slivers of sunshine
I
am very glad that you brought out the aspect of millions of
jobs being created for the common man through IT enabled services
in your article (Counter Point). Very often the leaders of
big companies preach about moving up the value chain and other
buzz words, and make big speeches at conferences, but they
are speaking from high (sic). Apart from a few thousand software
programmers who get paid much, what has the computer industry
done for Indians in this country? If India becomes the back
office of the world as they are saying then at least all graduates
who are today unemployed can think of making a career even
if it is not a glamourous one that takes them to New York
and California and what not.
Arvind Tendulkar
Mumbai
More of consumer shows
The
recently concluded ICT India 2002 exhibition proves a point
IT exhibitions and trade shows are losing their fizz. I think
industry associations and bodies should realise this and try
to do something different. It seems hard to imagine that an
IT manager visits an exhibition to find hardware or software
for his company so no business in done. With paucity of funds,
taking part in an exhibition does not make any sense any more.
Consumer fairs are still a big hit, and the industry should
look at this as an alternative.
Sudhakar Kumar
Via
e-mail
David versus Goliath
In
a classic example of David versus Goliath, China has always
been a potential threat to India both politically as well
as economically. If India currently boasts of its low cost
manpower, surely, the fact that China is the world’s
most populated nation cannot be discounted. With this huge
manpower, China offers a more viable alternative to companies
looking to cut costs by outsourcing their IT needs.
Of course, Indians do score over China in the sense that they
are more highly educated with a fairly decent command over
the English language something the Chinese cannot boast about.
However, India should not take this for granted. Even though,
as your story states, the country is in no position to even
cater to its own IT needs, Indians need to buckle up and get
moving. We may be sitting pretty at the moment, but one can
never say when the tide will turn.
Jenny D’souza
Mumbai
Budget blues
The
budget is due to be announced this week and there are many
who are keeping their fingers crossed waiting to see what
tricks Mr Sinha has up his sleeves this time around. If the
rail budget was any indication, I guess most of us will be
in for a lot of disappointment post Feb 28. While we understand
that the government is not enjoying its best financial health,
the fact that people need a breather cannot be understated.
First came the slowdown, then the recession and many lost
their jobs. The IT sector was one of the worst affected this
was despite captains of the industry claiming that they had
escaped the slowdown unscathed. Mr Sinha, if you are listening,
give us a break.
Sanjay Mathur
Mumbai
Poor HR policies
Thanks
to the slowdown, most companies have shut shop and those that
have not, are cutting costs like there is no tomorrow. However,
most have gone about cutting costs in the wrong way without
as much as sparing a thought on as to what would the repercussions
of their moves be! While employees were axed right, left and
centre in an effort to ward off the effects of the slowdown,
most companies that indulged in such practices have lost their
credibility in the market and have been black-listed by potential
employees. Even now, in some companies, rumours abound that
come Monday and so many people will be sacked. In such an
environment, with people so de-motivated, I wonder how many
companies will be able to achieve their targeted growth rates
and also how does the industry plan to continue to retain
its leadership position in the global market.
Mariappan Achari
Chennai
We’d
love to have your views and feedback on articles featured
in Express Computer. Send e-mail to ec.bmy@vsnl.com Or write
to: The Editor, Express Computer, Indian Express Newspapers
(Bom) Limited, 1st Floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai
400021. Fax: 022-2301007
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